A salesman was jailed on Friday, May 24, after carrying out a £3.3 million scam against a university after conspiring with a senior manager at the institution.
Aasim Johar, 53, while working with Geoff Turnbull, set up a fraudulent scheme to obtain hospitality, vouchers, money and goods at the expense of the University of Edinburgh.
During the ten years, goods were ordered and paid for, even though they were not needed and were not always delivered. The total fraud amounted to £3,338,943, with a further attempted fraud worth £136,478.
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Johar, known to Turnbull as Alan Scott, received an eight percent commission on the escalating sales to the university and Turnbull received gifts, hospitality and vouchers.
When police searched the home of Turnbull, the former deputy director of estates and buildings at the University of Edinburgh, in Rhodes Park, in North Berwick, East Lothian, in April 2016, they found gift vouchers for Tesco, a voucher for Next, Marks and Spencer vouchers and a gift certificate to Rocco Forte Hotels.
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They also discovered iPads, iPhones and Apple watches purchased through staff from Universal Solutions (International) of Bromley, Kent, for whom Johar worked in sales.
Johar, of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, had denied committing the fraud between June 2005 and November 2015 and claimed there was no wrongdoing on his part. But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh unanimously found him guilty of the crimes.
His counsel Ronnie Renucci KC applied for bail for the first offender while a background report on him is carried out ahead of sentencing next month.
The judge, Lord Lake, told Johar: “You have been found guilty of fraud and attempted fraud. As Mr Renucci recognises, both are serious matters.”
He said he had decided not to pursue bail and remanded him in custody ahead of his sentencing hearing.
Solicitor depute Erin Campbell said Johar and Turnbull, who is now deceased, had taken part in a tender fraud in which Turnbull ordered increasing quantities of cleaning products and other items from Universal Solutions.
She said the Crown alleged that between June 2005 and the end of November 2015, the only dealings between Johar and Turnbull were “fraud”.
She said Turnbull placed the orders with the company and received a large number of “promotions” for himself, some of which were returned to Johar and some of which were forwarded to others.
The prosecutor said: “The evidence shows that many of the goods were never delivered and those that were were not needed by the university.”
The court heard the company set aside a percentage of revenue from sales for promotions that could be used for tickets to major sporting events, such as the British Grand Prix or English Premier League matches, along with shopping and hospitality vouchers and other gifts.
The prosecutor said: “The evidence shows that Geoff Turnbull regularly received high-level gifts and that Aasim Johar received commission.”
“This was money coming from a huge institution with significant resources. The fraud started small and grew and grew, I think, as those involved became bolder and bolder,” she said.
“Geoff Turnbull and Aasim Johar lined their own pockets under the pretext of a legitimate business relationship between the two organizations they represented,” she said.
Ms Campbell said it was clear some cleaning products were being supplied, but claimed most of them had not been supplied.
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She said Turnbull was a senior strategic manager but placed all orders with the company and met drivers to sign for deliveries.
The lawyer deputy said: “He did not want to delegate these tasks because he knew this was an ongoing fraud.”
Johar was served papers for a criminal action to recover any illegal profits from him.